Where was the spirit in the Lions' meaningless Tour match?

By the score alone this is the most competitive game the Lions have EVER had in WA. So if it's insulting that a team scored 17 points- 2 tries, against them, why were they there in the first place?? Look at the scores from the past, those 17 points were MORE than the TOTAL previously scored against the Lions in the last 4 games. (3, 3, 0 & 10). It also seems a little hypocritical demanding the best players to be fielded by a local team, but forgetting that at the same time the National players are not allowed to play for their usual local teams, because they don't want them to be injured prior to the "Important" games. That this only happens here & no elsewhere is pretend. How many of the legendary Llanelli team had to front up to their physical rugby "day job" 4 days after playing the All Blacks? Just curious? Was the Reds game more to your liking (they have a by in Super Rugby this week!) Llanelli may have a fine tradition of 138 years, the Western Force didn't exist the last time the Lions visited WA. Lions played the WA locals 2001, the Force joined the Super Rugby Comp 2006. I am quite sure you & every other loud hailer drumming up agitation has no idea what the rugby situation is in WA. Almost all the followers of rugby in WA are immigrants from South Africa, New Zealand, Britain, Ireland & Australian East coast. It is an AFL town through & through and the Rugby tradition is almost entirely imported. The most locally produced player for the Western Force is Kyle Godwin - born Zimbabwe, schooled Perth, debut 2012. I can not think of another Force player who is the product of WA.You clearly didn't watch the game or you would know the attendance wasn't by 35000 Force fans, the principal colour of the crowd was red & some green. By hearing some of the loud conversations, many weren't there for a love of rugby tradition, but a support of their British heritage and the spectacle, even if they traditionally followed a different code of football at home. Great in itself, but hardly 35000 disappointed Force or rugby fans at the game. The Super Rugby home games are important to the local fans base, which isn't 35000, and is itself teetering. The Force have had to work hard to maintain it's presence in one of the most isolated & parochial ALF places. I'm sure many fans maintain their stoic support for the Force, because without them we would see minimal professional rugby in WA, like the days prior to 2006, possibly 1 game of professional rugby a year!! If lucky a Wallaby vs Ireland game. With the nearest game a whole country or ocean away. What helps maintain the regular rugby fan base, is watching the rare win. Not a need for wins obviously, you couldn't be a Force fan if you needed wins. The local rugby here is usually attended in even mix of Force fans, who are glad to have a rugby team based in Perth, and the "Away team's" fans. I am sure it is one of the few places in the SANZAR regions where 'Away teams" have routinely as many supporters as local team fans. Again as with the Lions game, not just rugby fans but people wanting to support their homeland & salivating at the chance to gloat in the victory. Although you wouldn't really gloat if you know much about the Super Rugby ladder, beating regular Aust conference wooden spooners, hardly worth the breathe. It is why you will not understand that the Force vs Crusaders Super Rugby home game will be my highlight for the year. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the skill of the Lions international rugby stars, they were thrilling, but it will not compare to finally being able to smile sweetly at those attending for a promised victory, as the inconceivable happens, they have been beaten by the Force. Like I said, you wont understand about rugby in WA. Cheers!

Bloody good article. Lions buggered it up by going to Hongkers though. Even so, Foley iS a prat. Should have got stuck in and hang the consequences

Of course Pogo and you are right I do love Auckland. It's all the better for having so many from Waikato miving there. Anyway Auckland haven't been much chop for a few years now. TBH I have always supported Auckland over everyone except Waikato.Still have some special moments like when McCahil sent two hospital passes to Joe Stanley and Paddy Darbo had him in his sights both times. Slow to get up first time, even slower the second. Best moment i enjoyed for Auckland was when Carlos gave it to the Canterbury supporters after scoring the winning try at Lancaster Park. I was watching some rugby vids the other night. Forget how good Carlos was. Watching him live was one of the pleasures living on Auckland. It's so much better watching him work the field live. Auckland is sure missing someone of his class currently. I still think it's funny how Australians think Quade is in the same class. And if Auckland ever do get the shield, Waikato will be there to take it off them as we always do :-). Classic moment was when we stole the log for a night and took it back on the bus :-). Ahh memories....

Exactly right. I'm so sick of this Force and Foley hate. Foley selected two equal teams to play 2 games in a week. Both games had value. Both had paying crowds who deserved to have decent players to watch. The ARU allowed this to happen. I doubt they would have allowed this scheduling to happen to an east coast team. Now watch the media crap on the Force's efforts when every other franchise gets to play the Lions without the Super season getting in the way. Typical east coast hierarchy setting the Force up to fail. Yawn. It's an old story.

As usual typically happy to live and work in Auckland and claim to hate us. If you really hated Auckland you would have stayed in the Waikato, deep down you know you love Auckland and you wish you were from here. By the way you're just keeping our shield warm, it always come home soon enough.

The difference though FOS is that all your money will eventually find its way back to the QRU. All the matches in Victoria, ACT and WA each year yield millions, of which they see a couple of hundred thousand back.

I hear the Reds are going to wear white against the the Lions who will be wearing red. It just makes a nonsense of the silly franchise names: Queensland please turn up on Saturday to play the B&I Lions. It also makes me laugh when the Blues wear white against blue teams. It's just a nonsense and not properly thought through.

What I don't understand is, why didn't they schedule the first game as the Force game at the weekend, when they had their Super15 bye? Then Foley could have fielded the best available both then and this weekend. Its probably because of the $$ that the HK game pulled in...but that also seems small picture to me. As many others have said, there was a prime opportunity to get the Perth public excited about what is happening in WA Rugby. Even though I went with (crazy) hopes for the boys that ran out on Weds, I knew that it was probably not going to be good. I was surprised, they played better than I expected. But still, the huge inexperience on the Force's side was telling. Shame on all those who put those boys under ridiculous pressure, who made the decisions that left out the deserving players, who decided the S15 game was more important, who were more interested in making $ then thinking long term of the future of WA Rugby.

Except that all the ticketing was done by the ARU, not the Force. The AFL will have made more money out of that game for ground hire than RugbyWA.

No, the HC is the model where you take the top few domestic teams (=ARC, ITMC, CC) and play them off against each other (i.e = Super rugby), which is why it is bandied about as a replacement format. The first section of that is the six round robin games, and the Force v 'Tahs match this weekend is no different from Ospreys v Treviso, Connacht v Zebre, Harlequins v Barritz, Exeter v Leinster, Scarlets v Clermont, Sale v Cardiff and Toulon v Montpellier in round 6 last year, every one of which was utterly meaningless in terms of final pool position and the make-up of the finals. Doesn't mean they were all free to not bother showing up. The Force has its responsibilty to sponsors, corporates and members this weekend. The ARU should have had the same responsibility last Wednesday, but completely neglected it in favour of their Sponsors and corporates. You are big on the outrage KPM, but tell me - The Force wouldn't have been oblivious to all these arguments, especially their commercial services, media and finance teams. So why is it you think the Force as a team did what it did, and why the players agreed to it?

that does it, back in the ignore basket for you

Thats a disappointment, I assumed my funds were going to Qld rugby, not the ARU. Why did the QRU bother promoting the game up then?

I'm glad we can agree on something! :)

RK, I thought Healy was talking about Martin Johnson on the Lions tour, not Harrison.

I'm pretty sure the ARU gets the gate receipts to every game of the tour

Thanks hog, Someone else on the Roar posted when the match dates had been scheduled and (if they are to be believed) the Lions tour was already planned well in advance of the SOO, about a year before. What makes this situation worse (I feel) is that the Force were more than happy to take the large gate receipts. I suspect that most of the crowd were there to see the Lions anyway - whether they be Brits, Irish, Australians, or neutrals - but to put out a reserve team padded with NSW club players and still charge regular prices ($70 for a Platinum ticket) is shameless.

and we lost the series...... Face it playing all our Wallaby playyers in the provincial matches would be suicide....

Agree Katpo. The team that should have played the Lions was the state team, as it has always historically been for a Lions tour. It shouldn't have been the professional franchise, and for that you'd have to blame the ARU as it was them that decided to bin all that tradition. A state team wouldn't necessarily have excluded players like Hodgson and Brown that had genuinely relocated over there long term, but would have prevented them hauling in playes from the eastern states - they would have had to find a way to do that for the Tahs match instead. It certainly would have given the team a much more identifiable WA connection and rewarded players from the local competition when there were gaps to be filled.

KPM I was at Ballymore in 1989 for the 19-15 loss and Qld playedl their test players.

I agree 100% with you James.